Published on May 22, 2001
The first thoughts I had as the opening track of Shea Seger’s
The May St. Project, “Last Time” (which will probably be a
single(, began to play were about the drum loops in the background.
They weren’t Terry Bozzio style innovating, or Keith Moon in
frenzy, but they were interesting. In fact, as the CD wore on, they
remained the only truly interesting part for me.
For the most part, “Last Time” is very unoriginal and boring.
It’s got a hook, but with Seger’s flat-voiced delivery it fails.
The first few times I listened to it I couldn’t remember the melody
after it finished.
However, before the faithful reader begins to disregard this
review as a scathing portrait of an untalented artist, I feel I
should allow for a few tracks that do speak to me. I rather enjoyed
“Always,” which featured interesting, almost off-key harmonizing in
the background. Seger employs this technique a few other times,
with surprising success.
“I Love You Too Much” features an interesting melodic part,
underneath the drum-loop and vocals, and while the Ani DiFranco
impersonation she attempts is very nice, it still lacks something.
It’s enjoyable; and it follows the artistic diversion into
drum-looping that is “Interlude: Rooftop Animals” well, but the
emotional impact doesn’t stay with me. The guitar solo that is
inexplicably located in the middle is well-executed, and even
well-mixed into the bathroom, but I feel it’s more of an
afterthought than an intentional inclusion.
When Seger exploits her voice, she creates a very interesting
listening experience, as evidenced by “Walk On Rainbows,” but this
impact is very rarely explored. All too often she sinks into some
kind of reflexive style that doesn’t convey her meaning to the
listener.
The tracks that are destined for singles stand a good chance of
succeeding in the current market. The tracks that are clearly not,
such as the previously cited ones, seem to contain a diametrically
opposed voice and style to their companions.
I read some of the other reviews of the work; some called it
innovative, synthesizing and one even compared it to Bob Seger. I
couldn’t find such reviews to be further from the truth. It seems
derivative at best, and the idea that this woman takes the best of
Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye is laughable.
The May St. Project was difficult to listen to. Not because
it is bad music – it isn’t really, but what it is tends to be very
obfuscated. Seger hides beneath loud drum loops, meaningless guitar
that sounds tacked on like a post-Phil Spector attempt at
minimalism, and synthesizers. My initial reaction was of pure
horror that she was such a phenomenon in Britain; but after several
more listens I began to enjoy some of the songs, and even humming
them as I walked around during the day. She certainly falls into
the common pitfalls – distorted megaphone voice, anger at ex-es,
and hooks. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t. If you’re
looking for a fresh new voice, don’t pick this up. But if you want
an enjoyable listen, then I would suggest you consider it.
As a side note, one of the major irritations I had with this CD
was the number of fluctuations in volume. One track would be soft,
another loud. This may be a result of the promo CD, although with
the album in general release across the Atlantic I doubt this to be
the case.